Learn how to make a healthy trail mix for an easy, energizing snack. This School Fuel Trail Mix is perfect both kids and adults!
This post sponsored by Sprouts Farmers Market. As always, opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that make The Nutrition Adventure possible.
As kids head back to school, send them off with an energizing trail mix to keep them fueled throughout the day. Even if you’re not going back to school, you can enjoy the trail mix too! Homemade trail mix is one of my go-to travel snacks, and in this post, I’ll share 5 elements to consider when making a healthy trail mix. I actually packed some of this mix for my recent trip to Austin (<— recap coming soon!).
Last week, I was invited to the new Sprouts Farmers Market store in Murfreesboro for a soft opening event and was asked to share a back-to-school trail mix for attendees to take home. It was so much fun exploring the bulk department at Sprouts to choose the ingredients for my trail mix! There were a few other Nashville bloggers also at the opening sharing their recipes too. Shout out to Leslie at Bessie Bakes, Kaylee at Lemons & Basil, and Meg at Nashville Mom Blogs.
For my recipe, I selected walnuts, raw pumpkin kernels, lightly salted sunflower seeds, dark chocolate covered blueberries, and banana chips. Honestly, I’ve never liked banana chips, but the ones at Sprouts are delicious, especially in this mix! The options for trail mix ingredients are endless in the Sprouts bulk section and you’ll also find grains, rice, lentils, beans, flours, & so much more.
Each jar was tied with a cute ribbon and the attendees made the trail mix themselves from the ingredients in the bulk department. Here’s a picture of my ‘station’ in the brand new store!
How to Make Healthy Trail Mix….
When making trail mix, I think about each of the following elements:
- A healthy source of fat—this usually means nuts like almonds, walnuts, or pistachios which are high in monounsaturated fats
- Seeds—for an extra boost of fiber, healthy fats, and protein, seeds are super additions to trail mix
- Color—because we eat with our eyes!
- Variety of texture—this is usually pretty easy to obtain if you include a nut, a dried fruit, and seeds
- Something sweet, something salty—I strike this balance with dried fruit and the addition of a lightly salted seed or pumpkin kernels
[bctt tweet=”5 Steps to Making a Healthy Trail Mix + #recipe for School Fuel Trail Mix!” username=”KarmanRD”]
Of course, no trail mix is complete without chocolate, IMO. Rather than the usual chocolate chips, I like to add a dark chocolate covered fruit like cranberries, raisins, pomegranate arils, or in this case, blueberries! Dark chocolate + blueberries = antioxidant super duo!
Ingredients
1/4 cup walnuts
1/4 cup banana chips
2 tablespoons dark chocolate covered blueberries
1 tablespoon raw pumpkin kernels
1 tablespoon salted sunflower seeds
What are some of your favorite trail mix ingredients?
Want more trail mix inspiration? Try this Energy Snack Mix (–> includes dark chocolate covered espresso beans!).
Leave a comment below if you try this recipe or if you want to show your excitement for the new Sprouts Farmers Market! Have a great week everyone 🙂
